So, I have pretended to live in Chicago for almost 5 years. I have worked here, snoozed in a bed in a condo here, and worked here. Did I say I worked here?
What I have not done is go urban in some ways, until quite recently. By that I mean: I have not ordered in until recently. Yes, I have known that some of those bike people are delivering food. I have heard of GrubHub and other apps and companies that. . . deliver. But, it was to until a very desperate night some time ago (I cannot quite bring myself to confess), that I discovered Seamless and the ease of ordering in.
So: I have ordered in. Multiple times. It is not good in some ways as it feeds the gremlin that does not ever want to get out of pajamas or otherwise leave this condo or my sofa. On the other hand, it does serve to push away the other gremlin of not eating. Ordering in is both a delightful indulgence and. . . something other or not quite as nice as it seems.
For me, ordering in seems to be a bit of a repetitive thing. Once I ordered from China town. And, then, I got on a Thai kick and basically that is what I do now. So: I will review the various places from which I have ordered . . . and you must indulge me as I do.
First I ordered from Lao Szechuan, which is part of a group of restaurants in Chicago and, in this case, is located in Chinatown, which is a bit south of where I currently am typing. I ordered a few things, most crucially something I have had before -- (a) chicken with a zillion peppers in it (which I am sure has a better name); and (b) sit fried green beans. Both were quite good -- and I have to admit I have never in my life seen so many peppers in a dish in my life. The delivery was on time, tasty and lasted a few days. Okay, I am having a moment of doubt about whether I ordered this directly from the restaurant (possible) or through the service described below.)
Then, I switched to Thai. Here, I was stumped. I had discovered Seamless, and yet I did not recognize most of the restaurants. So, I chose an ethnic cuisine, and then jumped off a cliff in the direction of a best guess. So far I have ordered from two thai places, and I have a definite preference. In fact, one place: never again. The other place: I have already enjoyed multiple times. But wait. That might not be quite true.
Bang Chop Thai Kitchen is the first place I tried. I ordered pad thai, and then with it got various hotter things each time. And, I got a thai coffee (or once I got two). My overall assessment is: the pad thai is much much better than from Opart Thai as is the thai coffee. And, basically nothing else is memorable. I ordered a ground chicken item once which I actually tossed. But: if I order pad thai again, it will be from here. And that is despite the fact that on occasion their lime wedges are dryish. As a side note, when I was looking for the link included at the start of this paragraph, I think I discovered this place is run by the Saigon Sisters. Hmmmm. Even I know that is a good thing. But, that is not why I chose them the first time I ordered from them. I was just looking for a thai coffee with condensed milk. (Not that I should have those at night.)
Opart Thai is a place that is in my head because I have gone past it repeatedly. I ordered just the other night from there. The pad thai was not acceptable. On the other hand, a green curry that I got (medium) was terrific, if just a tiny bit sweet. It had green beans, broccoli, those little corn cobs, carrots, thai eggplant, and snow pea pods. (Not to mention the chicken I chose as a protein.) I would order this again, though I would not order the pad thai or coffee from Opart.
Minor issues: I think that the packaging is a bit weird. If you are selling iced coffees (with ice in them), why choose to do so in a way that requires you to wrap the cups with saran wrap? There must be another way, even when the food and drink are being delivered by bicycle courier (which is how mine got to the apartment I think).
As for Seamless, it is easy, and the only annoying part is that I always say "no need to send plastic forks and napkins" which they give as an option. And, every single time I have ordered through their service I end up with napkins and plastic forks. Go figure.
They are pretty reasonable in terms of speed of delivery (and accuracy in predicting delivery time). Also, the texting to you is just a little silly, which is helpful when I am cranky and awaiting food, and when I order out I am either wildly depressed or just so tired I cannot. . . so, a bit of silly goes a long way.
